


A Latch of Hope

by ForeverLovingLexa



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), Walkers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9702650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverLovingLexa/pseuds/ForeverLovingLexa
Summary: Alicia Clark is faced with new challenges, new people and realization of how her life has played out for as far back as she could remember. She and a new stranger are going to have to learn to trust each other and survive together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note: So this story is going to start off at the beginning of season 3 of Fear the Walking Dead. I am taking focus away from Nick in this as well and writing mainly as Alicia Clark. I will be flipping back and forth though between Alicia and some new Characters that I created. My style is creating new characters and particularly I will invest myself into one of the main characters that I create. I enjoy creating something that no one has thought of before so that’s what this is. This story is going to start out in Madison Clark's point of view (This will really never happen again until way later on in other chapters because I loathe Madison. She wouldn’t be so bad if she would just pay attention to her daughter a little bit more.). I am only writing from Madi’s point of View now because its needed for the story. POV will change between chapters but Chapter one will be different because I need to establish the plot accordingly. So the second part of the chapter will be in the view of Alicia Clark. I will always let you know whose mind we are in at the beginning of each chapter. I hope you enjoy. (And no, Eliza Lex is not in this chapter (She will not be Alicia's love interest either) but I will be bringing her in in later chapters, in a completely different way.)
> 
> Back Story: Madison, Alicia and Travis just left The Colonia in Tijuana. Madison is hell bent on finding Nick. They just heard a fire fight not far from them. They leave the man on the bus and head towards the gun shots.

**Chapter 1:**

 

**Madison:**

  
I have felt this feeling many times before. I know Nick is alive. He is like a cat with 9 lives but, the thing is, those lives are running out and I’m not sure how many he used while we were apart. He’s my baby, my first born. He needs to be alive.

  
We heard shots not far from the small compound where we found the dying infected man. I asked about Nick and he could only get out 4 words, “Border, he saw something.”. As we left, we heard the shots and without thinking I was running.

  
I need my son back. He reminded me so much of his father in so many ways that it hurt. I could see the light disappearing from him just as my husbands had. I couldn’t lose Nick; I would do anything, sacrifice anyone, including myself, to just have my son back and safe.

  
I saw the van in sight and ran harder. When I reached it, I flew the driver’s door open and started it as fast I could. I put my foot on the gas and took off. Alicia didn’t even get her door shut.

  
“Madi, slow down!” Travis said to me. “Alicia barely made it in the van. I know you are worried about Nick but, we need to be safe too.” I eased off the pedal a little, but, not much and heard Alicia’s door close. I needed to know if Nick was ok.

  
A few minutes went by and we saw them, a group of people running towards us. I stopped the van hard and Travis and Alicia hit their heads. “Nick!?” I screamed getting out of the van. People flew by me and I tried to get them to stop. “Nick Clark?!?! Please tell me where my son is!! Nick?!” A man stopped as I screamed his name again. “ Do you know where my son is? His name is Nicolas Clark but he goes by Nick. Please.”

  
“Nick? He and Luciana, they got shot. At the border. We saw helicopter just past the Tijuana River Valley and went for help and men shot at us. I heard them talking as I ran away. They might have him now. I’m sorry.” He started running to catch up with the rest of the group. Nick is alive. He needs to be alive.

  
“Get in the car, Now!” I yelled at Travis and Alicia who were standing at their doors just staring at me.

  
“Mom, what are you going to do?” Alicia said in a worried tone.

  
“We are going to get your brother… that’s what we are going to do.” Travis shut his door and walked over to the driver’s side and blocked Me. “What the hell are you doing, Travis?”

  
“Madison, be smart. We are not going to the border to get gunned down by the military. We need to find a less direct route.”

  
“This is where he was no less than 10 minutes ago and you want to give up.”

  
“No, I want to come up with a plan that doesn’t involve getting our daughter and ourselves killed in the process. They can’t guard the entire fence. We should drive along about 5 minutes on either side and cut our way through. There are tools in the back of the van. No one will expect someone to cross through the fence instead of walking another 10 minutes to the border.”

  
“We could lose him, Travis.” I said impatiently. He looked behind him at Alicia before returning his gaze at me.

  
“We are not going to the border checkpoint, Madison. There is no way in hell.” He opened his hand, silently asking for the key. I exhaled and handed it to him. “Get in the car, Alicia. Oh, and put your seat belt on please.” He opened his door and climbed in. Alicia looked at me for a second before climbing in as well. I walked around to the passenger door and got in, slamming my door to let Travis know that I was not comfortable with this plan.

  
We started driving again and Travis pulled off the main road and started driving east. This is so stupid. We should be going to the last place that Nick was and start searching from there. This is going to be the reason my son dies; because of Travis and his stupidity. He starts to drive along the fence for about 10 minutes and then stops. He opened the back of the van and got the cutters and started to open up the fence. He pulled it back enough so the van could fit through and we were on our way again.

  
Travis saw some shops in the distance. “We need gas Madison. We’re almost on E and I don’t know if we will have a better chance to find cars that could have gas like up ahead. We need to stop.”

  
“I am never going to see my son again.”

“Madison, we have to stop. If we don’t then we are going to be more behind them than we would be if we did stop.”

  
“Fine, Travis. We’ll stop, but, we are back on the road again in 15 minutes. Find as much gas as you can in that amount of time.” Travis nodded. I figured he just didn’t want to fight anymore and took what he could get.

  
We pulled up to the small shopping center and everyone got out of the van. I walked around looking for cars that still had fuel in them. Car after car they were all empty. I started getting frustrated because on this I agreed with Travis. It will take 3 times as long to get there without the van. I came up on a blue Nissan and again the tank was on E. I grabbed a metal bar on the ground, and in frustration, I started hitting the car over and over. I shattered the driver’s window and the windshield before Travis reached me. I thought he was there to comfort me, but, he started pulling me away.

  
I looked up and realized that my outburst attracted the dead. The parking lot was starting to fill with them. I tightened my grip on the bar as ran back to the van. I got in the driver’s side and looked over at Travis who had stopped and was staring out into the distance.

  
“Alicia!?” He screamed. I stood up in the van using the door as support.

  
“Where did she go?!” I yelled at him.

  
“She said she was going to see if she could find any food or water in that store!” he pointed towards the strip mall. I scanned the parking lot searching for her.

  
I saw her then. She was surrounded by the dead and fought her way to the bed of a pickup truck. I saw her start to climb up but she fell and yelled out.

  
“Alicia!!” The dead surrounded the truck and her yells became silent fast. Travis started to run after her but I grabbed on to him. “Travis stop! She’s gone! We need to go or we will be dead too!”

  
“You’re just going to leave our daughter?!?!” He looked at me, disgust in his eyes.

  
“She’s gone. We can’t do anything to help her now…” I was numb. I have lost everyone. He looked at me and his eyes were empty. I could tell that he couldn’t feel anything anymore at the realization of Alicia being gone. Without a word he walked over to the passenger side, got in, and closed the door. There was nothing left.

  
I turned the car on and drove away. Neither Travis or I said a word.

 

**Alicia:**

  
My mom is so hell bent on finding Nick, that she doesn’t even pay attention to me. We got to the parking lot and she just took off. I told Travis that I was going to see if I could find any food in the stores across the way while they looked for gas. He nodded and went to work searching for cars that were not on E.

  
I walked into a Mexican Grocery store with my backpack and looked around. There were some cans here and there but no water or any drinks. I didn’t really expect there to be anything essential still in the store but, I had hoped there would be. I put the few cans into my backpack and continued my search. I went down the aisle with the office supplies and found a notebook and a few pacts of pens. I also found a bandanna that had the design of the California flag .I looked at it for a short moment, idealizing the placce where i grew up and where I came from, comparing it to the nightmare that it had become. With a sigh, I put it all in my bag along with cans of food.

  
I was heading up to the front of the store when I heard loud crashes coming from the parking lot. I ran to the door, afraid someone was in trouble. I pulled out my butterfly knife from my back pocket as I pushed open the store doors. I ran out and noticed too late that the lot was filled with the dead.

  
I looked around, killing any dead in my way and I saw my mom beating a car with a pipe. The banging stopped, but more dead surrounded me. There was at least 50 of them and only one me, with one knife.

  
I saw that that the bed of a truck was down and I made my way over to it. I jumped into it but my foot slipped; it slammed into the edge of the truck and cut on a sharp metal that was protruding from the back, like it had been in an accident. I started to scream from the pain but, I was able to pull myself into the middle of the truck where the dead couldn’t reach me. I bit my tongue to keep myself from crying out, knowing that the dead are attracted to noise. I started to feel dizzy; looking down I saw the bed was full of my blood. I could see my knee bone protruding from the cut and blood gushing down my leg.

  
I needed to stop the bleeding. I grabbed the bandanna from my pack. My vision was blurry and head felt as though it was full of air. I had seen this in a movie so I prayed that it would work. I tied it around my thigh as tight as I could but I was so weak, I don’t know if it was enough.

  
I was slipping away and I heard the car engine. It got less and less distinct until finally, it was gone. They left me here to die. Blackness.

 

* * *

  
When I woke up everything was black. I faintly smelled rubbing alcohol in my surroundings. I felt something under my nose and then realized it was a nasal cannula feeding me oxygen. Where the hell am I?

  
My eyes started to adjust but the room was still very dark. There were room darkening drapes over the window and the room was lit by the smallest strand of Christmas lights I have ever seen in my life. Looking around the room there were medical instruments that I had recognized from seeing my brother in the hospital many, many times before: A heart monitor that was beeping with my vitals, a blood pressure cuff, an oxygen machine, and an IV bag. There was more equipment but I didn’t know what it was.

  
I looked down to inspect my body and I had a cotton hospital gown on. Around my neck was a dog tag that had all my information on it: my full name, Alicia Isabella Clark, birth date, height, weight, home address, and even my blood type. I looked around me wondering how they got the information and saw my backpack on a chair in the corner along with my shirt, shoes and knife. I start to move to go get it and pain shot through my entire body, I cried out.

  
The door opened and a girl came in. She’s white and has blonde hair. The pain made my vision blur so I couldn’t see any of her features, just her outline.

  
“Don’t move Alicia, you do not want me to have to reset the bones again. You got lucky that you were passed out when I did the first time.” The girl said. Her voice rang in my head. She lifted the blanket and removed a bandage to expose my left knee. I couldn’t see the bone anymore and I saw that a cut at least 6 inches long was professionally stitched.

  
“Where am I? A hospital? Who are you?” I asked weakly. I was in pain but I pushed that aside because I needed answers.

  
“You’re at my house. On the edge of the Tijuana River Valley.” Said the girl as she started to place a new bandage over my stitches. “I was out gathering a few supplies and I heard you scream; then 2 people got in a car and left. I didn't want to leave the area without knowing if I could help, so I drew the attention of the Walkers and got to you. You were still alive and uninfected. I brought you back here.”

  
“I’m at a house? How do you have all this equipment?” I said confused.

  
“My grandfather was ill, we set up this room so he could come and stay with us instead of a hospital but before he made it here he turned. He was one of the first to turn in California.” I could tell that she did not want to talk about it. I didn’t push

  
“And your name?” My vision was starting to sharpen but the girl wouldn’t look at me. She covered my leg back up and looked at my monitor that had started to beep.

  
“I need to readjust your sensors.” She grabs a new sensor pad and leaned over me and carefully peeled off the sensor over my chest. I notice a dog tag hanging around her neck just like mine. I read her name aloud.

  
“Ellanora Ryanne-Naya Lexington.” She grabbed her dog tag and stuffed it into her white Kodaline baseball T-shirt. She finished with my sensors and then looks me in the eyes. Her eyes are blue and soft. I can tell she is a little worried.

  
“You- you can just call me Ellie” She said softly. She moved back to the monitor, pressing buttons to adjust something.

  
“Ok, Ellie. How did you know all this information about me? ” I held up the dog tag around my neck.

  
“Drivers license.”

  
“What about blood type, that’s not on—” I stopped when I saw the band aid on her arm.

  
“You needed blood… I was a match.” Her eyes wouldn't meet mine as she said that. I stared at her in disbelief. She didn’t even know me, and she still used her blood to save my life. Tho is this person? She started to talk and cut off my thoughts. “So, you should be fine. You broke your leg pretty bad, tore a few muscles and ligaments, and punctured one of your main arteries, so you won’t be able to travel soon, but you’re going to live.

  
“When do you think I will be able to travel?” I asked

  
“At the very least, four months. If you’re lucky.” Four months?! By then I wouldn’t have anywhere to go.

  
“Four months?! My family will be gone by then.” I said panicked.

  
“Your family? The people who got in the car, they were your family?” She looked at me weird.

  
“Yes, they are all I have left.” I threw my head back and looked up at the ceiling. “What am I going to do?” I squeaked. I didn’t mean to squeak, it just came out.

  
“Your welcome here.” Ellie said softly. “I am tired of being alone.” She went over to a light table on the wall and flipped it on. I saw the x-rays of my knee.

  
“Thank you.” I said softly to the stranger. It’s a funny feeling, so far this person has taken more interest in me and my safety in 10 minutes then my own mother has in the past 3 days. I looked at her again as she turned around. “You look a little young to be a doctor.”

  
“I’m not, a doctor that is.” My eyes widened and I swear she smiled. “I would have been in 3 months. The apocalypse got in the way of my degree to practice medicine.”

  
“How old are you?”

  
“I’m 20. I have really high IQ. I do have my bachelors in mechanical and chemical engineering. A few years ago though I decided to go into medicine. Figured I could help more people with those 3 degrees combined. I have always wanted to help people, you know. Invent new things to make the world a better place for my family...” She stops there and her eyes started to go blank but she shakes off whatever she was feeling.

  
She said something but, I wasn’t listening. This was the first time that I could really study her face. Her eyes were soft and I could tell that she hadn’t been sleeping. Her hair was wavy and Blonde and she had 2 small braids underneath her left ear. Her lips were cracked and I saw paint on the side of her neck and at the edge of her hair line.

  
“Alicia?” I snapped out of it. “Are you in any pain?” I didn’t really realize how much pain I was in from moving until she asked me it. I had been trying to hold it back. I nodded my head yes. She pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. “Drink, Slowly.” She then walked over to a cabinet and unlocked it. Inside there are glass bottles of drugs and needles. She started to fill the needle

  
“What is that?” I asked starting to feel skeptical.

  
“Morphine.” She looked at me and saw the uncertainty on my face. “I promise, its morphine. If I was going to hurt you Alicia, I wouldn’t have brought you back here. I would have just let you die in the parking lot.” I nodded my head feeling a little better. “This will probably make you want to sleep a lot but until the pain is under control, this is what is going to dim it.”

  
Jack crossed my mind as Ellie put the medicine into my IV. No, Ellie was different from Jack. Jack was just a voice, if I would have seen him I would have known that he was lying. I see Ellie, there is no lies in her eyes. Anyways, I have no choice but to trust her. There are no other options.

  
“I will check up on you in a little bit. Just rest for now.” Ellie leaves the room and I take a few sips of water before falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

  
There are dead everywhere. Surrounding me. I start to run and more appear. I am in a cage. There is no way out. I run to the bars and there stand a group of people with their backs turned to me. I scream for help and they turn around.

  
There are eight people there: My mom, dad, Travis, Nick, Chris, Jack, Hector and Andreas. I plead for them to help me but, none of them move. I realize then it, all of them have one thing in common. Betrayal.

  
As I stare at them, pleading for help, they smile. I blink and multiple copies of them appear. They appear until there is no more room outside the cage. The dead get closer.  
I realize that the dead are not getting closer but the cage is getting smaller and smaller. They stand there and watch with smiles on their faces as I am about to die. Smaller. Pleading. Smiling. Watching. Smaller.

  
I gasp for air.

  
Light.


End file.
